A Process for Strategic Focus

by David Shaffer

A particular challenge for most companies is not the identification of opportunities but rather a process to focus on those critical few initiatives that will align with the annual operating plan and provide expected returns to the stake holders. Strategic planning has become synonymous with annual retreats where in retrospect little is accomplished and traditionally camouflaged under the label of team building. Although any opportunity for management communication is good, if the retreat objective is to lay a foundation for defining and meeting company goals then the success of the meeting must be determined based upon workable, measureable and practical action items.

Chartering is a time tested and proven methodology that provides a quick and efficient means for prioritizing initiatives, assigning responsibilities and most important, tangible measurements to assure the appropriate return on investment. Companies that adopt Chartering as part of the strategic planning process establish a means to effectively communicate action items and directions to the entire organization, align sales focus and compensation with the key elements of the company’s business, and develop a non-threatening means of accountability. There are two types of Charters; first those that identify the actions necessary to implement an initiative and second, those that help management determine the viability of a proposed initiative.

A successful charter is a 3-4 page outline linked to a critical initiative, the aggregate of the charters becomes the key initiatives that the organization will focus on in the up coming year. The owner of the Charter is responsible for identifying the internal and external resources necessary to meet the Charter objective.

The components of the charter include:

• Background
• Key Challenges
• Project Overview and Rationale
• Approach
• Scope
• Major Milestones
• Major Deliverables
• Stakeholders and Resources
• Project Budget
• Assumptions, Constraints and Concerns

When a Charter is approved, a time line or Gantt chart is utilized to combine the Charters into a single source of control. Not only does this provide a measure of accountability it quickly identifies potential bottlenecks where resources are over committed. Again, in some cases, a Charter is utilized to do appropriate research resulting in follow up Charters for implementation of accepted initiatives. In scheduled actual or virtual meetings, management time is effectively utilized by focusing on Charter review rather than general discussions. In essence, by reviewing the progress of the Charters management is in effect, reviewing progress on the commitments to the annual strategic plan.

Although ownership for the Chartering is assumed by the management team, it is common and cost-effective to utilize an exterior resource as a facilitator for the process and as an independent source of testing the rationale behind each of the selected Charters.

David Shaffer is an Interim Executive with Cerius Interim Executive Solutions, the largest provider of Interim Management services. He specializes in Strategic Planning, Information System Integration and Utilization and Business Process Improvement strategies.

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